Blue and White
by Plaguemoose
Summary: Novitiria is a turian merc. He was her big chance to make a name for herself, but after a failed mission and a chance meeting, she may just discover that Archangel is worthy of being more than just a target. Garrus/OC, will contain sexual themes.
1. Chapter 1

Invictus was a harsh planet. There was no way around that. It was a dangerous place, filled with diseases that targeted dextro-amino species, and the wildlife that harbored them was the main reason that turian colonies had the tendency to fail. Those that succeeded were stubborn, though, as they had to be, and the children born there wore tough hides and big attitudes.

Novitiria was one such child, but all the stubbornness that the colonists possessed seemed to manifest in her. This became abundantly clear when, rather than perform her civic duty and take up arms, she left on a merchant ship with no more warning than a note left for her parents explaining that she longed for more excitement than the turian military could bring...and that she thought the military was filled with filthy-fringed bare faces and she would rather face a hundred threshers than join up.

After such a charming parting letter, what she ended up with was mercenary work, and some very, very disgruntled parents. Mercs weren't honorable, and in the turian hierarchy, having a child who refuses to join the military was practically cause for banishment...at least, in the old days. Novitiria's parents, both respected researchers living on Invictus to investigate the uninhabitable jungle, were dishonored when their daughter left on Blue Suns ship, and proceeded to pour all of their efforts into their remaining child, a son named Baronius. Hoping that he would turn out better, they were relieved when he did what all young turians were _supposed_ to do and became an officer in the fleet.

They hadn't heard from their daughter since the day before she disappeared.

"Novi, don't get cocky." a male turian growled, flaring his mandibles slightly in warning. "You're only here because we're pulling out all the stops."

"But I can do it!" the female hissed, staring up at her dark blue leader. "You just never gave me the chance-"

"Then this is it." her superior said forcefully. "Prove that you're not still that dumb kid we picked up on Invictus."

He turned on his heel, leaving Novi fuming. She had been in the Suns' lower ranks for years, ever since she joined them on Omega, never moving up the ladder to where she belonged at the top. They refused to let her do anything past demanding credits from civilians living in their district, throwing in the occasional patrol to keep her occupied, and it was infuriating. She knew she had more in her than that. During target practice, she hit every mark. When they were sparring, she almost always won-and when she didn't, she was close. She could put up a fight. If they would just throw her out there, give her a chance...

But now she was finally getting that chance she deserved. "Archangel," whatever the hell kind of name _that_ was, had finally managed to piss everybody off enough to warrant a raid on his base, and Novi was determined to be the one to finally take him out. She had the skills, she _knew_ she did. She had the guts, and now she wanted the glory.

And now they were all going to see what she was made of.

"Novi!" a batarian male shouted from across the room. The turian stood from her place among the crates in the corner and looked at him. "With me. We're moving out."

She picked up her SMG and her stomach did a flip. This was it. Her first _real_ mission, and it was such a big one...so what if she was only allowed to go because the Suns were trying to take care of things without involving any other mercs or soldiers? It still counted. When it was all over, she would get to brag about the fact that her first mission had been successful, and that _she_ had been the reason.

"Tarius won't let me use you as bait." the batarian grunted as Novi approached him. "Says it won't work anyways."

Novi snorted as loudly as she could to hide her irritation behind a mask of amusement. "Why, Dasin?"

"Why what?" he asked as they walked together to a group of human and batarians waiting at the elevator.

"Why wouldn't it work?"

He shrugged. "Tarius thinks Archangel is too focused. And too much of a pain in the ass. He wouldn't fall for it, he says. Guess he oughtta know, seeing as you're all turian."

They reached the others and the group stepped onto the platform, Novi's fringe reaching a good foot higher than the tops of the others' heads. Why was she the only turian there? It didn't feel right. Tarius was staying behind as the brains, as he usually did, but the others were all conveniently absent. There were plenty of turians that stuck with the Suns, and Novi patrolled regularly with quite a few of them. This was sketchy.

"Me? I think Archangel's in good need of a female by now." he and the others roared with laughter and Novi clicked her mandibles in annoyance. They were probably right; turians were very sex-driven, and a good portion of their society revolved around both the intimacy of mating and the casual fucking that took place amongst friends and peers. That didn't mean Novi had to appreciate the jokes, however.

"Guy's been holed up long enough." one of the humans said. "Bet he's gotten real lonely. Hey, maybe we _should_ use you as bait. You've got a...what do you guys like so much? _Supportive waist?_ "

"Not like he's coming out any other way," another said.

"Only if I get a promotion." Novi said flatly, her subharmonics hardly audible as she glared down at all of them.

"Ha! For killing him after, maybe."

"That's all I'd need."

The lift shuddered to a halt and Novi flicked her visor on, narrowing her eyes as the doors opened. She stepped out after Dasin, rifle on her back, SMG in her hand at the ready, scanning the streets as they crept forward towards the last area Archangel had been spotted in.

She tried to go over what she knew about him in her head. He was turian-hence _so_ many jokes at her expense-and a better shot than anyone that went after him had been thus far. His only motive seemed to be the desire to take out mercs, and while that didn't seem like a good enough reason to be risking his life like this, it was certainly playing out in his favor so far. Nobody could touch him, which gave Novi the sneaking suspicion that he had a fleet background. Some kind of military bareface.

"We're going to thin out." Dasin said. "Novi, take the right. Anders and Smith are going middle with me. The rest of you-"

Novi didn't bother listening to his other orders. She didn't need them. Instead, she veered off into an alley that was barely wide enough for her to squeeze through, her eyes trained on the heat signals that her visor provided while her cowl scraped against the walls. She picked up some faint spots from inside the grimy buildings that she passed, but nothing big enough to be turian, and nothing out of the ordinary. Just some of Omega's poorest and most unfortunate citizens.

She pressed further, sticking close to the shadows once the alley opened up into a wider street. This was a race to see who would find Archangel first, and she was determined to win. She was the only turian among them, and that coupled with the fact that she knew this part of Omega well gave her a leg up, she figured. Whenever she patrolled, it was always near this area, and had practically memorized the dirty slums after so many hours of just walking and threatening.

When she found an arms dealer that she recognized, she grinned. She knew exactly where she was now, and there were only a handful of places that Archangel could hide out in for so long out there. She was almost standing next to the best one, she realized as she pictured a map of the district in her head.

"Novi, do you copy?" Dasin's voice sounded in her ear.

"What?" she asked quietly as she rounded a corner. Before her stood a dark building, squished between the others, an open expanse sitting before it and no sign of any back door. This had to be it; she had always thought it was abandoned, or a place for varren fighting rings to meet in. She had never paid too much attention to it, and looking back, she wished she had. If she had known it was such a prime spot for hiding out, she could have found Archangel a long time ago.

"What is your position?" Dasin asked.

"I'm next to the-" she was cut off as a bullet suddenly ricocheted off of her armored cowl, the clang ringing out much louder than the weapon that caused it had.

"Novi?"

She looked up at the top floor's windows as she broke into a sprint, stumbling behind an overturned crate. Archangel was watching, she was sure of it. Now she just had to figure out how to clear 200 meters of exposed ground to get to the best sniper the Suns had ever encountered.

"Novi!" 

"C," she panted. "Quadrant C." She popped her head out to look at the dark windows, staying as low behind the crate as she could. There was no hiding now; even if Archangel hadn't spotted her, her white skin was standing out in stark contrast to the dark gray background, and while her armor was blending in well, her face was the perfect target.

"Do you have sights?"

"Not yet," she half lied. It was too dark. There was no way she could see him with her naked eye, and her visor was only managing to pick up a faint heat signature. She needed light. She didn't carry any flares, though, and by the time any rounds reached those top windows, the bullets would have cooled too much to give off a significant amount of light.

She had flash bombs, though.

She cursed quietly. She could toss one and take the opportunity to run, but it was going to have to be a perfect throw. That's the only way it could work, and she was only going to have one chance to get it right.

She pulled a grenade off her hip, flipped the trigger pin, stood up, and threw it as hard as she could before ducking down, her eyes trained on those damned windows. It collided with the wall, the resulting flash illuminating everything for just a moment, and as she jumped up to run, Novi caught a glimpse of turian fringe and the glint of a rifle in the very middle window. There he was.

She made it to the door and inside before Archangel had a chance to shoot at her, and as she stormed up the stairs, she desperately hoped his eyes were still too traumatized by the light to react in any way that would benefit him. Maybe he even got hit by a spark or some shrapnel. She knew there was a good reason to carry those bombs-they were usually reserved for Vorcha, but light could only do so much to them, and they were generally useless. Now she was grateful for hauling around the extra weight.

Trying to remember which room she had seen him in, Novi ran down halls and up stairs, finally remembering that she should probably tell Dasin where she was. As she reached the door she wanted, though, the shots she heard on the other side made her guess that the others had already figured out where to go.

Good. That meant Archangel was distracted.

Novi sucked in a breath and hit the access panel to open the door, only to have it slide open slowly enough that Archangel had time to greet her with a blow to the head. Her visor cracked and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep any shards from penetrating them. The last thing she needed was to go blind at a time like this.

She stumbled back, the damaged visor flickering on and off, distracting her and distorting her vision. With gritted teeth, she fumbled with her gun, ready to shoot, until the bigger turian interrupted her with a well timed sweep of his legs under hers.

She fell with a shout, landing on her back. He reached for his gun and she quickly lashed out, grabbing his heel spur and yanking on him as hard as she could until he tripped and fell onto his front, one three-clawed hand clutching something at his midsection.

Novi finally had him. With some scrambling, she grabbed her gun before she righted herself and stood over him, pointing it at his head. Her hands were shaking and she felt blood trickling down her face. This was it.

She had never actually killed before. Sure, she had shot various creatures and people dozens of times, but never fatally. She had never watched anyone die, and certainly not by her hand. Now that she had a chance, she couldn't bring her hand to squeeze the trigger, and as she chastised herself for it and finally cleared her head to force herself to execute Archangel, he took the opportunity to raise the pistol he had kept strapped to his chest and shoot her.

The sound was earsplitting. Tears immediately filled her eyes as she fell, and pain flooded every space in her head. Novi collapsed, her body going limp as her vision faded in and out, in and out, black and not black, there and not. She didn't want to die. She hadn't done what she wanted to.

She had failed.

Archangel knelt down in front of her to take her guns, preferring to use the SMG on the mercs storming the building, and the last thing Novi saw was a pair of brilliant, icy blue eyes staring into her own.

Her vision went first. The world turned black, and those eyes went away.

She heard shots, but they sounded far away as her head spun.

Then everything went completely quiet.


	2. Chapter 2

"The Citadel, Shepard? Again?" Garrus asked. He was growing tired of dealing with C-Sec.

"You heard me, Garrus." the commander replied, hand on her hip. The redhead turned to look at the rest of her crew. "We're here on business, not shore leave...unless we pull this off."

"Rewarding us with drinks?" Jack crossed her arms over her chest.

"We've been working hard. I think everyone could benefit from a little fun." She looked at the biotic sternly. "We've got two days here. Garrus and Tali, you're with me. We're stopping in to check on things with C-Sec and then it's straight to work. For all of us."

Murmurs of "Yes, commander" and "Understood" rippled through the crew as the Normandy docked. They had all been hoping for some shore leave, but the commander had been keeping them busy for the past few months, away from friends and family and edible food. They dispersed as soon as Shepard left with her squad, all eager to finish their work and get off the ship as quickly as possible.

Maryanne Shepard was always aware of how the crew felt. They had grown frustrated lately, and she knew that shore leave was what they wanted and needed. It was also what she needed-a break from the rest of life, a chance to pretend that she was just a normal tourist visiting the Citadel. The Normandy had been called to assist C-Sec with some slightly-out-of-the-ordinary security issues, and Shepard, never one to deny them, immediately agreed to help.

So now, she and two aliens were busying themselves in the office. Garrus itched to leave the whole time they were there, honestly wishing he were anywhere else, and when Shepard finally turned to leave, he had never been so relieved. He hated those assholes and their red tape, and dealing with them always left him in need of a stiff drink.

This time, he was allowed to get one.

"Garrus," Shepard said as she and Tali led the way to a bar. "I'm buying. You deserve it."

"Shepard, I can hardly-"

"Not taking no for an answer, Vakarian. I'm buying your drink and that's final."

The turian sighed. When she got like this, there was no arguing. His best bet was to just go to the bar and try to enjoy himself, even if that meant begrudgingly forcing a happy look into his grouchy turian face.

As soon as they reached the bar, however, Garrus spied something that made it seem a little bit easier to fake having a good time. A female turian stood there, leaning against the ba rtop, one foot propped up casually. She was wearing light armor with no insignias visible on it, just plain black standing out against her pearly white hide. It was a skin color that was uncommon, but not necessarily rare, and one that had always seemed particularly attractive to Garrus.

He could only see her from the back, but he liked what he was taking in so far. She was thin but not starved, with a nice waist and short fringe. A pistol was strapped to her side, and she probably had more hidden on her. She seemed to be watching the salarian bartender's every move, inconspicuously keeping an eye on him as he made drinks as if she were concerned about assassination. Maybe she was; Garrus had no idea where she was from or what she was expecting. All he knew was that he liked the look of her, and that it had been too long since he had seen a female of his species.

"Ooh, Garrus," Tali said, her mask flashing with her words. "Go talk to her!"

The turian tried to play it cool. "Maybe I will. Maybe I won't."

"Go on, you big raptor," Shepard said, giving him a nudge as she grinned. "And tell the bartender to put it on Commander Shepard's tab."

"Whatever you say, Shepard." Garrus said, trying not to seem too eager as they parted ways.

While Shepard and Tali headed over to a booth, probably to spend the extra credits on bottle service, the sniper made his way over to the bar and stopped himself a few feet away from the female turian. He saw her notice him, her right eye sliding to look at the newcomer, as he motioned for the bartender and ordered the strongest thing that he could drink without dying.

"Brave." she commented, her voice flat.

"What makes you say that?" he asked, turning his head to give her his full attention in hopes that she would do the same.

She didn't. "You must be on shore leave if you're willing to start your night off with something that strong."

"You sound like you disapprove," he commented as the salarian brought him his drink.

"Quite the opposite." she answered.

He looked at her for a moment, noticing that she only stared forward. "Make that two." he said to the bartender.

"Generous for a soldier." the female said, voice still emotionless.

"You sound like you disapprove of that, too."

"Maybe I do." she was quiet for a moment, searching for words. "Maybe I don't like soldiers."

Garrus was finding that he wasn't completely sure what to say to this woman. "Why?"

Her mandibles flared. "Maybe I think they're all varren shit."

"Didn't enjoy your civil service?"

Her mandibles flared a second time, more forcefully and with more anger. "I never did it."

Now that was strange. And bad news. Interesting news, but bad. He was getting the sense that she had the potential to be very, very dangerous. "Then why do you wear armor?"

"I'm involved with...other work."

That meant she was a merc. "Who are you with?"

"Nobody."

The bartender brought her drink and she immediately grabbed it, downing it as quickly as she could. Garrus could tell she was growing agitated, nervous almost.

"Look, I'm not going to-"

"I know you." she interrupted suddenly, her voice cold as ice.

An uneasy feeling rose inside of him. It was probably nothing. He had made a name for himself in a lot of circles-the Alliance, C-Sec, the Hierarchy, even among mercs. "Do you?"

"I never expected to find you here though, out in the open." her face split into a grin. "Imagine my surprise when I'm just out at the bar and _Archangel himself_ buys me a drink."

Garrus felt his stomach drop.

She chuckled to herself. "But you probably don't remember me."

"Should I?" he asked, trying to play it cool all over again.

With a sudden snarl, she turned to face him, grabbing the pistol from her hip and aiming it as his head. "Look at me!" with her free hand she point to her face. "Look at what you did!"

His eyes widened, both at the gun and what she pointed to. She had no left eye, only an ugly scar stretching across her face that made his own pale in comparison. Her mandible was damaged, and he guessed that significant reconstruction had to be done to salvage her head, if it had been bad enough that she lost an eye.

"I have no idea-"

"Yes you do!" she shouted, taking a step toward him. "You shot me in the fucking face!"

Garrus grabbed his own gun, the smallest one he had, and pointed it right back at her. "You don't want to shoot me."

"Oh, I don't?" she asked sarcastically as she forced him to take a step back. "I should have killed you when I had the chance!"

His eyes widened slightly. "You're that Blue Suns-"

"What the hell is going on here?" a female voice snapped. Garrus recognized it as Shepard's.

The white turian made the mistake of glancing at her and Garrus took the chance to jump forward and slam her back against the bar, looming over her with his gun pressed against her exposed throat while she struggled to grab her own. He pinned her with his weight and he felt someone reach down and rip the pistol out of her hand, the brush of familiar purple fabric greeting him as Tali pointed the gun at the merc.

"You've got three Normandy crew members pointing guns at your head," Shepard said. "I suggest you either start talking or start walking to C-Sec."

"Take this nonsense outside," the salarian bartender said, more annoyed than anything. "I don't need this in here."

Shepard made an irritated sound and stepped back, motioning for Garrus to bring the female. "Salarians," the commander grumbled as the white turian dragged her feet, desperately digging her heels into the floor as the bigger male dragged her out of the bar.

"Let me go!" she snarled, struggling against him.

"Unfortunately, this is what happens when you try to assassinate someone. Twice." he said.

"Would one of you mind explaining what is going on?" Tali asked as they approached an elevator.

"He shot me in the face," the female growled. She threw her head back and her fringe collided with Garrus's chin, eliciting an irritated snarl from him.

"Stop struggling!" he shoved his gun into the quarian's arms and after a quick moment of wrestling managed to get the other turian into a tight headlock.

"You stupid, bare faced-"

"That is enough!" the elevator opened and he pushed her in, slamming her against the wall even harder than when he shoved her into the bar. She tried to headbutt him but he pulled back, a hand on her throat while the other grabbed both of her wrists and held them down.

"Both of you, calm down!" Shepard commanded as the elevator shut again. "Garrus, what the hell is going on?"

"She's a Blue Suns merc." he answered coldly. "She tried to take me out once a long time ago. I _thought_ she was dead."

"Seems like you were bad at making friends while I was gone." Shepard said, pressing the barrel of her gun up against the female's jaw. "What's your name?"

She only gave a hiss in response and Shepard put her finger on the trigger. "I'll ask you one more time before there's blue blood all over the walls. What is your name?"

"Novitiria." she growled, a grimace on her face.

"Novitiria what?"

"Not important."

"Novitiria _what?"_

"I'd answer if I were you." Garrus said, eyes narrowed.

"Terculus." with that, she clamped her mouth shut, refusing to speak further until they reached the C-Sec offices.

They were greeted by Bailey and two turian officers who dragged a very angry, very violent, Novitiria away while Shepard and Tali gave all the information they could based on their brief interaction. The two male turians were having difficulty controlling the white female as she thrashed and threw her elbows towards their guts, even going so far as to sink her teeth into an arm.

Garrus watched as they went, wondering if he should try to help and why all the beautiful girls had to be vicious mercs who tried to kill him.

Well, she was the first, but damn, if she hadn't been a criminal….

"Garrus?" Shepard asked.

"Hmm?" he turned to face her.

"They're going to want an official report from you."

"I don't know if I can give that, Shepard."

"Well, you're going to have to give them something." she folded her arms over her chest, as was her habit. "I don't care what it is, but you know the drill."

"At least she isn't our problem." Tali said. Garrus imagined her wrinkling her nose behind her helmet. "They can deal with her now."

"Tali's right," Shepard agreed, turning to leave. "I already said all I can. It's all you now, Garrus."

He sighed and turned towards Bailey. He had enough to think about as it was, without making some stupid official statement on it for them. He really hated C-Sec and their red tape.

He hated it so much.


	3. Chapter 3

Novi had given up hope of escape. Her hands were chained to the table in the all-white room she sat in, and she figured this was probably what she deserved. It was the first time C-Sec had managed to catch her, and boy did she have a bounty on her head. There was no way they were going to let her walk after this one.

However, she really needed to get out of C-Sec and back out where she could be on the move. Blending in was kind of difficult in a holding cell, and she knew for a fact that there were some mercs looking for her. She had plenty of "friends," if that's what you could call them, and they were very eager to find the white turian. So _maybe_ she had killed their brother and owed them money, and _maybe_ they had been following her all over the galaxy. Was that a good reason for them to come after her while she was stuck in C-Sec? No, but it didn't mean they wouldn't. She had to bounce before they had a chance to break in and grab her while she was weaponless.

"I want to speak with her." she heard a voice say on the other side of the room.

She snorted. Archangel was a dumb one, she decided. Maybe they _should_ have used her as bait on that mission after all, just like they had joked...he seemed desperate enough now. It probably would have worked, and maybe she would still have an eye.

The door slid open and Archangel entered, blood still oozing from where she had managed to headbutt his chin. He looked angry, but not quite angry enough to pick her up and slam her against a wall again. Honestly, though, she wouldn't mind if he did. Mad turian sex in a holding cell would probably be one of the best ways to tell C-Sec to shove it.

"Not so tough now that you're chained to a table." Archangel commented as he sat down across from her.

Novi held up her wrists. "You could change that, big guy."

"Not a chance."

"You were pretty eager before." she put her hands back down. "Trying to buy me a drink and get under my plates."

"What are you doing here?" he asked, ignoring her as best he could. It was impossible, though. She was infuriating, beautiful, and so damn distracting. "A hit? Are the Suns here?"

"I told you, I'm on my own now. And I would very much like to get going now."

"If there's one thing I've learned, it's never trust a merc." Archangel said, leaning forward over the table. "I need you to tell me what's going on."

She stared at him for a moment. There was no way she could tell him the truth. "I'm taking a break from mercenary work. This was supposed to be a vacation...of course, you had to go and ruin it. Thanks."

It wasn't a total lie, was it? She wasn't there on business, persay. It was more...trying to get away from business, while business tried to catch her and blast her brains apart. So, a vacation, essentially.

"Oh, _I_ ruined it?" he asked, mandibles flared. " _I'm_ not the one who pulled a gun out in a bar."

"Well _I'm_ not the one who shot someone in the face!"

"You tried to kill me." he said defensively, sitting back and crossing his arms.

"Only because you did first!" She huffed, nose scrunched, and tried to mimic his folded arms. The chains stopped her, and she groaned in frustration. "What are _you_ doing here? You and the _great_ Commander Shepard. Here to kill mercs? Rough up arms dealers?"

"That's classified."

"Yeah, whatever." she yanked on the chains and then sighed. "Is there any chance I'm getting out of here? I've got things to do."

"Not if you don't kill the attitude." he leaned forward again, staring at her intently. "If you give me the information I want, though…"

"Ugh!" she rolled her head back. "I don't have anything to tell you!"

"Why are you taking a break?"

"The Suns didn't have work for a one-eyed loser." she snapped. "I had to leave after they realized there was no saving my face. Back then, I couldn't figure out how to shoot straight with no depth perception." she looked back up at him and hissed. "But...word spread about what happened. I got work elsewhere. If you read my dossier, I'm sure you'd know all that."

Oh, he had. He had demanded to see it the second Shepard and Tali left. He wanted to know about everything C-Sec had on this merc. "20 supposed kills in the past two years," he said. "I would tell you it was impressive, if you had done it legally."

"As if anything you did was better. You're a merc, just like me." she grinned, showing her teeth.

He growled. "What I did was different."

"A merc who kills other mercs is still a merc, no matter what stupid sense of justice you've got."

He moved to stand. "I think I'm done here."

"No," Novi said quickly. He couldn't leave so soon, not when he was clearly her ticket out. "Wait. Please."

"What?" He sat back down with an exasperated sigh.

"I'll tell you whatever you need to know." She lied desperately. "Just make them release me in exchange."

Archangel stared at her for a moment before slowly nodding in agreement. "Fine. Get talking."

So she did. She told him everything she knew about the Suns, as she could care less about them now, and she told him the general area in which she lived on the Citadel. She divulged black market trade routes, drug rings, arms dealers-everything he wanted that wouldn't directly impact her. It didn't matter if anyone knew where he got his info from. They couldn't touch her even if they tried, and oh, had they tried. Being in her line of work meant meeting lots of other people doing equally illegal things, and when there were no loyalties to betray, everyone was always at risk for being narced.

"Happy?" She asked, smiling sweetly in an attempt to get him to free her. She was getting the feeling that she had him caught in her web now.

"Is that all you've got?" He asked skeptically.

Well, maybe she didn't have him caught quite as well as she thought.

"You say you're so great, but you don't give me anything big enough to be worthwhile. I don't care about dealers. I care about the big guns."

"Oh, I'm sorry that the high and mighty Archangel doesn't have time for someone like me." She snapped. "That's what I've got, fuck-fringe. Take it or leave it."

While she had talked to him, he seemed to have softened slightly. It was almost as if they were bonding, in some strange, sadistic way. He certainly didn't appreciate all of the insults, though. "You know...I really did think you were dead. Imagine how much easier my life would be."

"If you hadn't shot me, I would have killed you." Novi said coldly. "But you make it sound like you think about me a lot. Should I be reading into that?"

He chuckled. "Only if you want to. But I don't think you actually enjoy mercenary work. The only reason I could shoot you that day was the way you hesitated, and mercs don't stop and think."

"I was young." she defended herself. "That was my first time that I...had the opportunity to actually do it. To actually watch someone die."

"Is that when you figured out it wasn't as glorious as you thought it would be?"

Novi's mandibles flared. "I still beat the rest of them. You mowed them down, and I was the only one left to run back to Tarius and give him any kind of report. And then, after that, I toughened up. I killed." she leaned toward him, grinning sickly. "I killed, and killed, and killed. And you know what? I don't regret any of it."

He watched her for a moment with those piercing blue eyes. He was searching for any sign that she had something left to say and that she was about to crack, or some hint about what he could do to get to her. "I don't believe you."

"I don't need you to believe me." she tapped her foot on the floor and looked up at the ceiling, trying to think. "Not about that, at least. I really don't have anything else to tell you."

"You're a bad liar."

She smirked the best way a turian could and looked straight at him. "Maybe I am. But you're not going to find out while I'm in here."

"You have got to be kidding me." Archangel hissed. Did she seriously think he was going to just let her go? As if he even had the clearance for that. "I can't get you out unless you give me something."

"Give you something? Archangel, _please."_ she said, feigning a scandalous voice. "Think of the _children."_ Then she looked at him straight in the eye. "You're right. I know more than I'm willing to say here. I know I'm being recorded. But like we settled earlier, you read my files."

"So what if I did?" he asked, a bad feeling creeping up on him.

"You know that I'm good at what I do."

"And that is?"

"Killing and winning. And hiding, and...lying. I can help you with whatever you need. Anything, just name it."

"You actually think I'm going to-"

Her single eye was burning into him. " _Anything."_

Archangel paused, staring back at her. Getting her out of there and bringing her on the Normandy...was definitely a bad idea. She only cared about herself. At best she would just be useless, and the worst case scenario…well, he didn't want to think about that. Their mission was dangerous, and saving the galaxy required a skillset that she definitely didn't seem to have. However, he had to admit to himself that he didn't know much about her, and that she had been good enough, even as a green Blue Suns reject, to almost kill him. The crew was mismatched anyways, from Alliance to Cerberus to killer biotics and scientists. Anybody who was good at something, no matter where they were from, had a place on the ship now. What difference would one merc make?

And besides...he really had gotten lonely. Being the only turian on a ship full of mostly humans had started getting to him lately, and it often felt like he only had Tali to talk to. Some of the human crew still didn't like him, even, and that was just irritating and embarrassing. Add to that the fact that turians needed to blow off steam much more frequently than humans did, and the Normandy began seeming more like a bland prison cell than a ship. He was frustrated constantly, with no others of his kind to help him relax, and the concept of adding another turian, however brutish she was, was tantalizing.

"Shepard will get you out of here." he moved to stand up and Novi tried to go after him.

"Wait!"

He looked back at her curiously. "Do you need something?"

"No, I just…how do I say this?" she clicked her talons together in thought. "So...I kind of need to get out of here immediately. Like _now."_

"I don't have the clearance for that. You're going to have to wait."

"Wait?" she whined. This wasn't how she wanted this to end at all. "For all that paperwork to go through? I can't wait for that. I can't wait at all. I need to _leave,_ Archangel."

"What's so urgent that you can't sit in here for a day or two?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"We _both_ need to get out of here." she stood, hunching over as the chains stopped her from straightening her back. "We can't stay here. C-Sec isn't very covert. They'll know I'm here."

He looked at her with an expression of sheer _done._ "Who exactly is after you, merc?"

"A couple friends-"

"Tell me."

"-so I betrayed them a little, not a big deal, but that was _way_ back-"

"Terculus."

"-And I'm fairly certain they're here. I can't sit still in here. They're going to come for me, and I probably don't _have_ a few days." she looked at him as seriously as she could. "You're making me beg, Archangel. I don't do that for everyone."

"How am I supposed to know you aren't lying?" he asked crossly.

"Because I'm _not!"_

"You just told me that you're good at it. And what else? Killing? _Hiding?"_ he snorted. "If you wanted to hide, you shouldn't have pulled a weapon out in public."

"Oh, come _on!"_ she shouted. "This is _serious._ What do you want from me?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe proof?" he asked. Nevertheless, he began reaching for his gun. "If I get you out of here, it's straight to the Normandy. No side trips. No errands. We go from here to the ship, and that's it."

Novi's heart jumped. She was winning him over. "That's all I need. You can stay with me the whole time."

"No, _you're_ staying with _me."_ he corrected, stepping towards her. "And if you so much as _try_ to-"

He was cut off by an alarm and a series of shouts outside, the siren blaring to signal the presence of intruders. The male turian was honestly shocked that this merc had been telling the truth, and as he heard shots fired in the hall on the other side of the door, he sighed, raised his gun, and motioned for Novi to stand back. She saw what he wanted and pulled away from the table, pulling the chains taught. As soon as he pulled the trigger, she was free, and if she had been able to, she definitely would have run for it.

"Thanks, big guy." she said, heading for the door. "Know any back ways out of here?"

He shoved her behind him and walked through the door, sticking close to the wall as he listened to the firefight taking place in the offices just a few meters away. "There's one maintenance route that your _friends_ shouldn't know anything about. Stay close and follow me."

"Wouldn't dream otherwise," she mumbled as he took off.

On the one hand, this was going better than it could have. As they shuffled through back halls and the mercs started searching holding cells, Novi was reminded that she could still be stuck in one of those tiny rooms; on the other hand, she was stuck with Archangel.

"Get in." he grabbed her arm and pushed her through a door. When she came out on the other side, she was in one of the Citadel's many stairways, next to one of its many giant advertisement screens. People bustled, heading up a floor or down one, and she briefly wondered if she had enough time to get away from Archangel.

He grabbed her arm again and she decided that she didn't.

"You sure we can't make one stop?" she asked as they ran down to the docking bay.

"I'm sure." he grumbled.

"Hey!" a voice called behind them. Novi turned to see a batarian running after her. "Get back here!"

Yikes.

"You're too slow, Archangel!" Novi said, taking his hand and pulling him. "Get _moving!"_

Female turians were typically faster than their male counterparts. They were lighter and slimmer, and in this case, more desperate. Their pursuer was joined by a few others, and while C-Sec tried to catch up and contain the problem, Novi was focusing all of her energy on running. Archangel was a bit of a dead weight behind her, despite his longer stride, and as she pulled him along, she started wondering what exactly would have happened if she had actually killed him when she had the chance.

She wouldn't be stuck dragging him through the Citadel to his own ship, that was for sure.

"Wait," he panted, skidding to a stop and pulling her around a corner. The commotion that had been right behind them now sounded far off, and based on the shouts, the batarians were being overrun by C-Sec.

"Might be the most useful thing they've ever done," Archangel commented, leaning his head back against the wall as he tried to catch his breath.

"Well, now that that's all over with, I'll be taking my leave." Novi said, turning on her heel to leave.

"Not so fast." he snatched one of the chains that still hung from her wrists and yanked her back to him. "You agreed to go to the _Normandy_ and that is exactly where we're headed."

"Why do you want me there anyway? There's no point." she argued, pulling against him.

With a growl, he gave another yank. "I'm bringing you on board. You don't have to join the crew, but you're coming with me and staying put."

"Am I your _prisoner?"_

He sneered down at her. "I don't take prisoners."

"You're right." she snarled as he pulled her along to the ship. "You just shoot them in the face."

"Are you going to let that go anytime soon?" he asked in irritation.

"That depends. Are you going to get me a new _eye_ anytime soon?" she retorted.

He made a massive noise of frustration, but was otherwise silent until they reached the _Normandy._ A few human crew members stood outside, and as the turians approached, they stopped their conversations to stare. A few of them had never even seen a female turian before, nevermind one missing an eye. All they could do was watch in confusion as the two made their way back into the ship, wondering what the fuck had led Garrus Vakarian to drag a very unwilling girl, handcuffs and all, onto an Alliance ship.

All they knew was that Shepard wasn't going to be very happy.


End file.
